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Rostkowski, Joëlle. Conversations with remarkable Native Americans. SUNY Press, 2012. 143p bibl indexes afp ISBN1-4384-4175-4, $35.00; ISBN 9781438441757, $35.00.
50-1066 E89 2011-19510 CIP
Ethnohistorian Rostkowski (School of Higher Studies in Social Sciences, Paris) has assembled a series of interviews with 15 prominent indigenous people. In this reviewer's experience, books on "remarkable Native Americans" often emanate from a theorized or believed view of indigenous peoples existing in tropes of decline. Here, Rostkowski provides an interesting glimpse into the thoughts of prominent indigenous writers, activists, and artists, each speaking to the centralized theme of the work--survivance. Survivance is based upon Gerald Vizenor's methodology in his work, research, and writings. Defined by Rostkowski, survivance "is the continual assertion of nonterritorial Native sovereignty, which ... as the condition of their lives as artists, writers, journalists, lawyers, and activists" informs readers. These interviews shed light on how diverse Native American peoples, cultures, and beliefs are in the modern era. The interviews encompass many views, critiques, and thoughts on how people move forward in the future based on what has already been experienced, learned, and remembered. Those interviewed and many others have aided coming generations in raising up frameworks based on survivability and seeking to negotiate present sustainability, all while seeking revitalization of indigenous cultures and epistemologies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General and undergraduate libraries. -- K. J. White, SUNY Oswego |